I love a good enemies to lovers story. Honestly this one was unexpected for me. I wasn’t anticipating the more deeper moments, with Jude’s mental health struggles and thought this would be a lighter story - there were definitely funny parts, and some parts that made me tear up. And, there were some steamy scenes too! I gave it four stars for all those reasons, but mostly because it kept me up past my bedtime. So it was pretty good in my book.

Mother forking, Mazey Eddings. Where have you been all my life? Please never stop writing. The only author to ever make me enjoy the dreaded pregnancy trope has done it again. The Plus One, the third and final installment in the Brush with Love series, was perfection. Chef's kiss!

After walking in on her boyfriend and another woman, Indira moves in with her brother, Colin, and his fiancé. Adding insult to injury, her childhood nemesis, Jude, who is also her brother's best friend, is in town for Colin's wedding. Now, both unexpectedly living under the same roof, Indira and Jude discover that perhaps they are more than just each other's past. Maybe they are each other's future.

This book is funny and sexy, with a genuine representation of LGBTQIA+ and neurodiverse characters. However, don't let this pretty cartoon cover fool you. This is more than just another romantic comedy. Both main characters struggle with trauma, and Eddings explores mental health in a deep and thoughtful way. Eddings' normalization of professional therapy and meaningful communication between partners is something I hope to see more of in the romance genre.

I felt so seen reading Indira and Jude's stories, and I don't know if I've ever connected to a character more than the way I did with Indira. Her relationship with her father mimics mine in a disturbingly similar way. Indira's scenes dealing with her feelings of parental abandonment and self-worth had me sobbing and yet praising her for her choices.

Jude's struggle with PTSD was so raw. This is the second book I've read recently, where the MMC deals with depression and anxiety. Focusing on the male character is so refreshing. Something else I loved was Colin and Jude's friendship. They talked about serious issues, their fears, and their hopes. They say I love you. What happened to male friendships in books? Please, please give us more of this.

The romance itself was made for me. It was impossible not to root for Indira and Jude. They are a new all-time favorite couple. Their chemistry is spot on, and damn Eddings writes a steamy scene the way I like them.

If I have any critiques, I would say it is a tad too long. Also, I think the fake dating subplot could have been done differently or left out completely, as most of the side characters know of the ruse.

Also, I will never look at peanut butter the same way again. If you know, you know.

Read this if you love emotional romances with meaningful conversations and witty banter. Perfect for fans of forced proximity, frenemies to lovers, fake dating, and older brother's best friend.

One other thing: while this is technically a standalone, I do recommend reading the series in order because this book wraps up all the storylines, and it is nice to see what happens to everyone.

Thank you to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, and St. Martin's Press for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Let me start by saying that if a book can capture my heart at the dedication page, I’m likely going to love it. ❤️ The Plus One by Mazey Eddings was no exception! The authors dedication stuck with me the entire time I read this beautiful novel:

“For those who hurt, those who've healed, and those who are somewhere in-between. You are worthy of love even on your hardest days. And for the younger me that still gets stuck in the bad place. You make it out.”

With a dual point of view between main characters Indira and Jude, The Plus One is the perfect enemies to lovers romance. Jude, the best friend of Indira’s older brother, practically grew up loathing Indira. The feeling was mutual! Now, both in the medical profession, they are reunited again for the wedding of Indira’s brother, Collin to Jeremy.

While there is a lot of cute banter between the two main characters, and a lot more to the plot than what I’ve described above, I want to focus on how well the author focused on mental health. Jude, who suffers from severe PTSD, struggles with accepting help, like so many others in our society today do. Indira, a psychiatrist, who also has her own psychiatrist, does such an amazing job guiding Jude throughout the book. I found myself gathering strength from Eddings words and I cannot be more thankful to her for including such a difficult topic, and for doing it so well!

I absolutely loved this book and without a doubt give it 5 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to the publisher, St. Martin’s Press, the author, Mazey Eddings, and to NetGalley for providing me with a gifted copy of The Plus One!

Posted on Goodreads on March 14, 2023: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/144922955?ref=nav_profile_l
Posted on Instagram (full review) on April 4, 2023: https://instagram.com/nobookmark_noproblem?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
Posted on Instagram (mini review) in March 2023: https://instagram.com/nobookmark_noproblem?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
Posted on Amazon on April 4, 2023

The plus one is the 3rd book in the Brush of love series. I really liked Indira and she is my favorite heroine in this series. She is fun, witty, strong, and not afraid to speak her mind. Some of Jade’s story was hard to read because he is so sad, but I was rooting for them. I appreciate that series talks about mental health in a respectful way and that it plays a important part in their relationships. This story had its good and comical moments, but sadly it wasn’t for me. I think it fell a little flat because there were too many tropes and I didn’t think it was necessary. The romance happened a little too quickly for me and I am not the biggest fan of 3rd pov. I seem to be in the minority in this, so I am probably the wrong audience. I enjoyed the 2nd book in the series, so I will still pick up the next book if this series continues.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this kind ARC in exchange for my honest review.

🦇 Book Review 🦇

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

❝ "We struggle too. We hurt. We handle situations badly or get depressed or anxious or anything else. We're all flawed. Your emotional struggles as a human are not a moral judgment of your worth, and they're not a reflection of your ability to help others." ❞

❓ #QOTD Have you ever considered therapy―and if not, what's holding you back? ❓

🦇 Indira's life is currently a mess―she caught her live-in boyfriend cheating (there was peanut butter involved), she's moved into her soon-to-be-married brother's home, and the bane of her existence childhood memory is staying in the same house. Meanwhile, Jude has spent the last three years treating patients in emergency situations, but the constant losses have taken their toll. In an attempt to get along and manage interactions with her ex, Indira and Jude begin fake dating, only to find comfort in one another. Was their childhood animosity just prolonged foreplay all this time?

💜 The character development between Indira and Jude is lovely to watch as they navigate the complexities of PTSD, parental abandonment, and mental health apart and together. This story's true strength lies in its mental health focus, which we view through Indira's career as a psychiatrist and her own therapy sessions, as well as through Jude's PTSD. Mazey Eddings' personal goal to "destigmatize mental health issues and write love stories for every brain" is evident on every page. Both Indira and Jude discover ways to heal from their individual experiences together, finding love despite what broken pieces they think they have. If you're a fan of cynical grumps, you're sure to adore Jude (who is grumpy for a reason, which we don't see often enough). The banter between Jude and Indira is playful and entertaining as well, often powering the dialogue between these two characters.

🦇 You're going to need to buckle up to read this one, because the emotional whiplash is intense. Instead of a smooth drive, Indira and Jude jump from one feeling to the next too quickly. We don't get enough of their long-standing animosity for one another before we move on to faking dating (and real attraction). Too soon, there's unexpected smut, real dating, and proclamations of love. The neck-breaking speed of such sudden changes doesn't feel natural and therefore affects the pacing.

🫶 If you love the trope of broken people falling in love and healing in one another's arms, this one's for you.

Tropes
💔 Enemies to Lovers
🫶 Fake Dating
🏠 Forced Proximity
🤝 My Brother's Best Friend
🧠 Mental Health Focus
🏳️‍🌈 Gay Wedding

❝ "Living―fully, unabashedly, fearlessly living―isn't the easy way out, Jude," she said. "It's the hardest thing you've ever fucking do. Numbing yourself is the easy part. Hiding in self-loathing is the escape. You want to make those losses worth it? Then fucking choose yourself, Jude. Choose us. Choose your health. It's okay to let go of something that's hurting you. That won't ever change the love you had for it. If anything, it will let you preserve that love. But you can move away from something that doesn't serve you. That doesn't make you weak, that makes you brave." ❞


🦇 Major thanks to the author and publisher for providing an ARC of this book via Netgalley. 🥰 This does not affect my opinion regarding the book. #ThePlusOne #Netgalley #Netgalleyreview

Do I have a new favorite author?? I think so! If Mazey Eddings writes it, I’m going to read it!
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The Plus One is the 3rd book in the Brush with Love series, and goodness, these books just keep getting better and better!
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I absolutely love how Eddings weaves such heavy topics in each of her books, but still makes them funny and sweet and spicy.🌶️
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Indira is temporarily living with her brother after an awkward breakup, Jude, a doctor, is home on leave from his latest humanitarian assignment. Coincidentally, he’s also staying with Indira’s brother helping them to gear up for his upcoming wedding.
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What I LOVED in this book:
💐the mental health rep (trauma, PTSD, strained family dynamics)
💐therapy positive
💐brother’s best friend
💐childhood enemies to lovers
💐fake dating
💐close proximity
💐characters from the first books
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If you have not picked up this series yet, you’re missing out!
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Thank you to @netgalley and St. Martin’s Griffin for the opportunity to read this book!

The Plus One is the third book in the A Brush With Love series and dang... these books keep getting better! This one is my favorite of them all so far. Mazey Eddings knows how to perfectly combine tough, heavy subjects with humor and spice. This book had me crying, laughing and sweating! It has all of my favorite tropes- enemies to lovers, older brother's best friend, quirky, lovable friend group, and a therapist as the main character. I related so hard to some of Indira's struggles in the profession and absolutely adored her relationship with Jude. It all felt so real and relatable. 
⭐⭐⭐⭐💫

I can't recommend this series enough! A Brush With Love, Lizzie Blake's Best Mistake and The Plus One are all so different, but they are all so enjoyable to read. They are definitely comfort reads for me now. They just make you feel good. ❤

The Plus One comes out April 4th! Many thanks to netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the arc. 🙏

Mazey has a way of exploring people who are struggling with mental health, Indira is the three friends of the group of ladies we've seen in previous books. We've seen Indira before and she starts a relationship with Chris. She discovers early that he is cheating on her
she ends up at her brother's home where her brother's best friend is staying leading up to the wedding. however, Jude is different - not acting like the usual guy she doesn't like.

Jude is suffering from pretty bad PTSD from working with doctors in difficult locations such as wars and starvation

Indira is trying to make the best of this new situation however she finds the need to help Jude and Judes seems to need her as well to make it through all the events '

they decide to fake a date so she won't look bad at this event with her ex and his new girlfriend and Jude needs Indira to distract him so he can function throughout this process

This story y touches on some deep subjects. I appreciate the research this must have taken with the realness of Jude's situation.

I enjoyed this book

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
As a follow up to Lizzie Blake, The Plus One is such a smash!! I absolutely loved Indirà and Jude. I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone with my level of snark accurately displayed in a book. And I found myself laughing out loud so many times.
Tropes covered: brother’s best friend, frenemies to lovers, fake dating, childhood to adulthood. Mental wellness rep and LGBTQ rep.
There’s a therapy-related talk given about a “house” that I absolutely loved so much. It hit so deep.
Spice? Um YES. Let me just say: sixty-eight plus one.

Editor: please re-comb chapter 30. And ch29 needs at least ONE positive note about his abilities, bc in that chapter he just sounds like you better NOT ever have him as a doctor. We know there had to be a positive patient experience…right?? One?

This book, the third installment in Eddings's debut series, brings back some familiar characters from her previous two books. There's ample deployment of some excellent tropes (enemies to lovers/childhood frenemies finally getting together), and TONS of spice. The second book in the series featured a neurodiverse main character, and our main characters in this story both have mental health issues that they begin to resolve through receiving loving support from each other. It's a balm for the soul to have PTSD and abandonment issues handled so sensitively and honestly in a story like this. Looking forward to many more stories from Mazey Eddings in the future!

Mazey Eddings has done it again!! I loved A Brush With Love, and I didn’t think she could top it. Then Lizzie Blake completely stole my heart, and I thought—this is it. She’s written the perfect book. And then she has the audacity to write The Plus One, and now I can’t believe I have yet ANOTHER favorite Mazey romance. Each book just gets better and better.

Indira and Jude are childhood enemies who enter into a fake wedding date kind of arrangement—Indira to save face in front of her ex and his new girlfriend, Jude to have an excuse to duck away from the chaos when things get overwhelming.

Mazey’s romances are laugh out loud hilarious, but they’re also achingly tender and emotional. Jude’s post-traumatic stress is written about so compassionately, and Indira’s support is perfect. She doesn’t want to put him back together. She just wants to love him while he works to save himself.

I can’t wait for my preorder to arrive so Jude and Indira’s book can sit on my shelf next to its siblings, but I’m so grateful to St. Martin’s and NetGalley for my advance review copy.


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This is by far my favorite installment in the entire series!!

This is everything I need out of a romance novel. It has 3 tropes that I absolutely love: fake dating, brother's best friend and forced proximity. The enemies to lovers I never like how it's done but, in this book, it was done beautifully.

The depiction of Indira's feelings and her visits in therapy to me were done impeccably, I especially appreciated the fact of her struggling with the fact that she struggled with needing therapy and being a psychiatrist herself. The depiction of Jude's PTSD I feel was done beautifully. A scene that sticks out to me is him during a drill where his body just freezes and then that day, he realizes he deserves to be loved. It's just a beautiful breakthrough to see someone have. I really enjoy seeing characters have such depth in books and see such character development throughout the whole story.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review as always, all words are my own.

The Plus One was a great final entry into a series I have really adored, I'm so sad this is the last one! This series has focused on three women who are all so special in their own ways, and the mental health rep throughout has been amazing and really elevated these from being "just romance".

The Plus One focuses on Indira, a psychiatrist who seems like she has it all together...until she gets home and finds her boyfriend locking lips with someone else in a very bizarre and sticky scene. Although she knew that they likely weren't meant to be together, it totally throws off Indira and she flees to her brother and his fiancé's house for somewhere to stay, where she is surprised to find her brother's longtime bestfriend and her childhood nemesis, Jude.

Jude has spent the last few years working for an international medical organization, working in field hospitals in warzones and impoverished conditions. He took on the job in exchange for them paying off his medical debt, and the work has taken a terrible mental toll on him. He's trying to hide how poorly he is doing but is struggling to control his anxiety and depression. Indira realizes pretty quickly though that something is off, even though Jude won't tell her what.

As they are both staying in the same house and helping out with the wedding planning, they quickly fall back into the verbal sparring that they've always been doing since they were kids, but something feels different. Jude, needing someone who can help extract him from the stressful wedding events and Indira, not wanting her ex-boyfriend to see her alone at the events and pity her, agree to start faking dating and quickly things turn more serious. But with Jude scheduled to go back to the field in a matter of weeks, how will his fragile mental state and their burgeoning relationship handle it, especially when he refuses to lean on Indira?

I loved all of the mental health representation in this book. I also really enjoyed how even though Indira was a psychiatrist, she was going to a therapist as well and worried about not being "perfect" enough for her patients. She used her medical training and skills on Jude but not in a way that made it seem like he was a patient. Their constant verbal jabbing at each other was a lot of fun, and I really appreciated how they came around to trying to figure out the bad situation they were in together in a mature way.

There are some great steamy scenes in the book as well, and I thought that Indira and Jude really had great chemistry! They were such well developed characters, both flawed but good people. This was a 4.5 star read for me and I can't wait to see what comes next from the author!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you NetGalley for the eArc for my honest review.

Mazey Eddings is quickly becoming a favorite Rom Com authors. I love the way that she creates neurodiverse characters that a their disability isn't the the only personality trait that they have.

Indira settles for men that don't deserve her. Hence her live in boyfriend who she walked in on him cheating on her with peanut butter all of there face. In a instant she moves in with her brother and his fiance, and unknown to her at the time he childhood enemy - Jude-.

With a childhood enemy to friends to lovers and fake dating with forced proximity it has some of my favorite tropes. The characters help each other to grow and learn what they deserve in a relationship.

Highly recommend.

I really enjoyed this! It was a fast and easy story to follow and I love Mazeys’ writing style! The plot flowed nicely and it was a great flow from enemies to lovers. The spicy scenes were great as well! 😂

Indira catches her boyfriend cheating on her so she moves in with her brother a few weeks before his wedding. It just so happens her brothers best friend (Jude) is staying with him to leading up to the wedding also. Jude and Indira agree to fake date, sparks fly and they fall in love. Indira helps Jude with his PTSD due to his high intensity job.

I went into this book with high hopes and it did not live up. The book in general was ok, not a bad book but not overly exciting either. The concept was there, but this seemed to drawn out. The overall vibe of the book was sweet and caring. At times it seemed like different writing styles mashed together and that didn't make sense to me.

Trope- Childhood frienemies to lovers, Fake Dating, Brother Best Friend
TW- Cheating , PTSD, Abandonment, Mental Health
Spice level- 1 .5

The Plus One is a childhood enemies-to-lovers, brothers best friend, fake dating contemporary romance novel that checked so many boxes for me!! Its sweet, steamy, funny and had such great banter. But its also deep, emotional and navigated trauma and mental health in a beautiful way.

Our protagonists Indira and Jude are so endearing and lovable that I was enamored right away.

This was my first novel by Mazey Eddings and my only regret is that I hadn’t picked up one of her books sooner!

Thanks so St. Martin’s Press / St. Martin’s Griffin and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. 🤍

Childhood enemies, faking wedding date, and forced proximity to a horrible ex happen to be three of my favorite plots for romance books. This book has all three. It was a quick read with likable main characters I found myself rooting for, which isn't always the case with enemies to lovers, sometimes I strongly dislike one character for a good bit of the book. A super cute plot that was well-written and moved quickly. I will definitely be adding this author to my list to watch for more books in the future.

I was keeping this book for a rainy day and boy am I glad I did. Mazey Eddings really hits it out of the park with this one involving Indira, who we met in her first two books, and Jude, my new book boyfriend. On top of having my favourite trope of “friends” to lovers, everything about this story felt honest and real. It was beautifully written and executed and just a great read.

Indira is a psychiatrist who catches her boyfriend in a compromising position involving peanut butter and another woman. She moves in with her brother six weeks before his wedding and bumps into his best friend and her childhood frenemy, Jude. The end up both living at the house while Jude deals with his mental health struggles after working overseas and Dira deals with residual family trauma around her father’s abandonment of the family when she was a child.

I fell completely in love with Jude in 30 pages and their lifelong love story fell so beautifully into place over the next 270. This is definitely a heavier book than Lizzie Blake but it deals really well with the invisible illnesses people can struggle with throughout their lives.

If you love spicy books, we’ll written stories, strong female characters, damaged male characters, and people generally willing to work their problems out in a healthy way by doing the work on themselves first, this book is for you. Also only one tent!

Another five stars!

Thank you to St Martin’s Press and NetGalley for this ARC, which I received in exchange for my honest opinions on this title. I honestly loved it and devoured the book in a day!

I enjoyed this book, but the pacing was a little slow and I think it felt repetitive at times hence the 3 star rating.

I really liked Indira's character. She's a psychiatrist who struggles with her own mental health and fears it will affect her ability to help others. I like that Eddings often tackles taboo topics like PTSD, anxiety, ADHD in her books. I think it makes the character's feel more real. Indira catches her boyfriend cheating on her and temporarily moves in with her brother, who has his best friend (and Indira's childhood nemesis) Jude staying with him. Jude is struggling with PTSD after spending the last 3 years working as a doctor in disaster areas.

Now this book has a little fake dating in it and childhood enemies to lovers (though it was more they just annoyed each other growing up than actual enemies). As I mentioned pacing is an issue in this book. A lot of the scenes where similar in discussing Indira and Jude's mental health struggles and the romance in the book was kind of lacking. I had a hard time buying Jude's dirty talk in the smut scenes. Like it literally made me cringe when he said certain things. His character just didn't give me the bad boy in the bedroom vibes Eddings tried to make happen.

I also felt like there were just too many character's thrown into this one. I know she wanted to include the couples from the first few books, but them plus Indira's ex, Jude's family, Indira's brother and his fiancé, the therapist...there were too many cook's in the kitchen at that point. I did appreciate that there was no third act break up for once in a romcom. Overall the story was cute, but just not my favorite by Eddings.

Thank you St. Martins Press and NetGalley for this ARC copy.